Previous public involvement activities
Public participation in action plan development
Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) conducted multiple consultations and engagement activities to develop an Action Plan to guide all ReOregon wildfire recovery activities. Public involvement steps included:
- Meeting with various stakeholders, including disaster-affected residents, state agencies, local governments, public housing authorities, and long-term recovery groups (LTRGs).
- Meeting with state agencies, including the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, and Oregon Department of Agriculture.
- Using early rounds of engagement meetings with local governments and stakeholders to present the initial unmet needs assessment and obtain feedback.
- Presentations and discussions with standing bodies, such as the OHCS Tribal liaison committee.
- Partnering with culturally specific community-based organizations to hold focus groups with survivors.
- Holding public open houses and hearings in Lincoln, Marion, Lane, and Jackson counties.
- Conducting an online survey during the first round of early engagement.
- Taking in public comments on the Draft Action Plan. Almost 200 comments were received and responded to in the final Action Plan.
Advisory committee
An Ad Hoc Advisory Committee helped shape the
ReOregon Action Plan through a series of meetings in spring and summer 2022. The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee advised both OHCS staff and the Housing Stability Council (HSC – the governing body of OHCS) on key items such as budget and priorities.
The committee was made up of stakeholders such as state elected officials, representatives of local governments, nonprofits working on disaster recovery, and two members of the HSC.
ReOregon public involvement plans
Citizen participation plan
The state has adopted a
Citizen Participation Plan (CPP), (Plan de participación en Español) that describes procedures for public participation in the development and implementation of the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and mitigation activities and programs.
The overall purpose of the CPP is to provide for and encourage the public to participate in an advisory role in the planning, implementation, and assessment of Oregon’s CDBG-DR funded programs. (Note: While HUD requires the development of a “citizen” participation plan, OHCS assigns equal value to responses from all Oregonians.)
Language access plan
OHCS created a Language Access Plan (LAP) in
English and Spanish to ensure that OHCS provides appropriate language assistance so individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) receive meaningful access to OHCS’ CDBG-DR programs.
LEP individuals include persons who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. All ReOregon public facing documents will be translated into Spanish. Documents will be translated into other languages on request.